


The Avengers

by StarrySummers04



Series: It Was Always You [8]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Incredible Hulk (2008)
Genre: Blow Jobs, Implied/Referenced Wank, M/M, Not Beta Read, Not Canon Compliant, Post Mpreg
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-02
Updated: 2020-09-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:07:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 10,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25668673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarrySummers04/pseuds/StarrySummers04
Summary: When Loki threatens the safety of Earth, Tony and Bruce are thrown together again when the world is due to end and they have to do something to stop it. Together, with a group of exceptional people, they might stand a chance.
Relationships: Bruce Banner/Tony Stark
Series: It Was Always You [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1823479
Comments: 21
Kudos: 77





	1. Chapter 1

(2nd May 2012)

Bruce knew he’d been tricked as soon as he was on his way to a shack on the outskirts of the city, no one lived this far out, he knew that. He’d come this far out when he’d given birth to Blake for that exact reason. “Should’ve gotten paid upfront, Banner.” He commented to himself, despite knowing this was a set up.

“You know, for a man who’s supposed to be avoiding stress, you picked a hell of a place to settle.” A redhead commented, entering the room without him hearing. Clearly a spy.

“Avoiding stress isn’t the secret.” Bruce replied.

“Then, what is it? Yoga?” She questioned.

“You brought me to the edge of the city, smart. I, uh… assume the whole place is surrounded.” Bruce guessed.

“Just you and me.” She assured. He knew she was lying, having a small child gave him that edge.

“And your actress buddy, is she a spy too? Do they start that young?” Bruce queried, feeling worried. Obviously, having two young children himself, he couldn’t imagine them doing something like this.

“I did.”

“Who are you?” Bruce asked, all this time and he’d not yet been given a name.

“Natasha Romanoff.” The redhead smiled.

“Are you here to kill me, Miss Romanoff? Because that’s not gonna work out for everyone.”

“No, no. Of course not. I’m here on behalf of SHIELD.” Natasha stated.

“SHIELD. How did they find me?” Bruce asked, he was worried that they knew about Blake, he just wanted to keep his children safe, especially Blake since he was the one in his care.

“We never lost you, Doctor. We’ve kept our distance, even helped keep some other interested parties off your scent.” Natasha revealed.

“Why?” He asked, not wanting to bring up his son, if they knew about him then surely they would mention it. He didn’t want to bring Blake into this unless he had to. Keeping his son safe was his number one priority.

“Nick Fury seems to trust you. But now we need you to come in.” Natasha stated. That was the last thing Bruce wanted to do.

“What if I say no?” Bruce asked. He had no intention of saying no, he just wanted to see what the answer was.

“I’ll persuade you.” Natasha smirked. Bruce doubted that very much considering he was gay, they would have been better off sending someone else to seduce him into doing what they wanted.

“And what if the… other guy says no?” Bruce asked, knowing it was a very real possibility.

“You’ve been more than a year without an incident, I don’t think you want to break that streak.” Natasha observed.

“I don’t always get what I want. In fact, I never get what I want.” Bruce replied.

“Doctor, we’re facing a potential global catastrophe.” Natasha warned.

“Well, those I actively try to avoid.” Bruce snarked. He would much prefer to stay here with Blake and if the world ended, at least he was with his son. Natasha took out her phone and handed it to him. It was displaying a glowing blue cube. 

“This is the Tesseract. It has the potential energy to wipe out the planet.” Natasha began.

“What does Fury want me to do? Swallow it?” Bruce joked. Natasha didn’t laugh.

“He wants you to find it. It’s been taken. It emits a gamma signature that’s too weak for us to trace. There’s no one that knows gamma radiation like you do. If there was, that’s where I’d be.” She explained.

“So Fury isn’t after the monster?” Bruce checked.

“Not that he’s told me.”

“And he tells you everything?”

“Talk to Fury, he needs you on this.” Natasha suggested.

“He needs me in a cage?”

“No one’s gonna put you in a…” Natasha began.

“STOP LYING TO ME!” Bruce exclaimed, slamming his fists onto the table. Natasha pulled out a gun from under the table and pointed it at Bruce. He couldn’t help but grin. “I’m sorry, that was mean. I just wanted to see what you’d do. Why don’t we do this the easy way, where you don’t use that, and the other guy doesn’t make a mess? Okay?” Natasha didn’t lower the gun, she still seemed scared. “Natasha…” She lowered her gun before pressing a finger to her ear.

“Stand down. We’re good here.” She ordered.

“Just you and me?” Bruce smiled.

“A precaution.” Natasha replied. 

“I would have been more surprised if there wasn’t any backup. So, how are we doing this?” Bruce asked.

“You’re to come with me now and we’ll fly to the Helicarrier.” Natasha explained.

“Okay, but there’s one thing SHIELD clearly don’t know about.” Bruce commented.

“And what would that be, Doctor Banner?” Natasha smiled.

“My son. I’m not leaving without him. I know I can’t bring him to SHIELD but I can drop him off with someone, we’ll need to make a stop in Queens.” Bruce explained.

“You have a child?”

“His name is Blake.” Bruce stated.

“Okay, where is Blake?” She asked, wanting to wrap things up as quickly as possible.

“I’ll go and get him, I promise I’ll come straight back. He doesn’t like strangers so I’m better off going alone.” Bruce explained. Natasha got changed into something more comfortable whilst Bruce was gone. He returned 10 minutes later, cradling a sleeping child. Natasha could see the resemblance in his sleeping face. He followed her through to the vehicle and was on a plane in no time. Blake didn’t even stir.

“How old is he?” Natasha asked.

“He turned 2 in February.” Bruce replied, smiling at the boy.

“He seems small for 2.” Natasha remarked.

“Things haven’t been easy out here, I’ve not been able to give him as much food as I would like and the water isn’t the cleanest. He’s been battling an illness, too.” Bruce frowned.

“We can have our doctors look over him when we get to where we were going initially? Set him up in the med bay and hook him up to an IV to get fluids into him. And any medication he may need.” Natasha offered. Bruce was very reluctant.

“I’d rather take him to a hospital in Queens and contact someone else, but thank you.” Bruce smiled. He didn’t want to take Blake to an army base or wherever they were going. Blake would be much safer away from all that.

* * *

The hospital reckoned that Blake only needed to stay for a few hours, they set up an IV to get some fluids into him and sent Bruce away with some medication for his son to take. The bill was going to be a nightmare to pay, but he would figure that out later. Bruce had called May Parker from the hospital and asked if he could come over. Natasha was waiting for him somewhere in the city but had let him be for now. As soon as he was done with May, he was to contact Natasha who would take him to where SHIELD needed him. “Bruce! It’s been too long!” May exclaimed, opening the door wider so that he could come in. Based on the late hour, he knew Peter would be in bed so he was trying to be as quiet as possible. May led him through to the main room, Blake trailing behind his Papa. As soon as Bruce had sat down, Blake climbed into his lap and snuggled down in his arms. It wasn’t long before the little boy was asleep. “Looks like you’ve got some explaining to do.” May smiled.

“I don’t even know where to begin. I’m so sorry that I haven’t been able to stay in touch, but I wanted to keep you and Peter safe. I don’t know if I’m still classed as a fugitive as some people from the government have turned up and they need my help. I couldn’t leave Blake in Calcutta.” Bruce began.

“And who exactly is Blake?” May asked.

“He is Peter’s baby brother. He turned 2 in February.” Bruce replied.

“Half brother or proper brother? Because I thought Pete was the result of a one night stand.” May questioned.

“Proper brother. I knew exactly who I’d been with and I made the decision to go and see him, based on some things that had happened. We ended up spending a week together, I don’t need to tell you what we spent the week doing, I’m sure you can guess. I’d incorrectly assumed that after the accident, I wouldn’t be able to have any more children. So, I’m sure you can imagine my surprise when I found out I was pregnant again.” Bruce explained.

“Is he okay? He looks very small for 2.” May commented.

“Yeah, I took him to a hospital before I came here, he’s been fighting an illness that had gripped the village where we lived but the doctor’s say he’s okay. I have some medicine for him. They also put him on an IV to get some fluids into him. He’s slightly behind in terms of development but based on our situation in Calcutta, he’s doing very well. I need to ask a favour.” Bruce expanded.

“You need me to look after Blake whilst you go and do whatever it is the government needs you to do?” May offered.

“Yes please.” Bruce replied.

“Of course. You go and help, we’ll be here when you get back.” May smiled, accepting a sleeping Blake from Bruce. Bruce smiled at her, and followed her to Peter’s room. They made a makeshift bed on the floor for him using cushions and blankets. Bruce didn’t want to disturb Peter but he had no idea what was going to happen over the next few days, so he leaned over and pressed a kiss to the 10 year olds forehead. 

“I love you, Pete.” He whispered before doing the same thing to Blake. He then left the room and headed back downstairs with May. “I can’t thank you enough for doing this.”

“It’s no problem. I’m sure Peter will be excited to meet his brother in the morning.” May smiled. She pulled Bruce into a tight hug and wished him well before he left, contacting Natasha. It wasn’t long before she picked him up and they got on the plane.

“You may want to sleep on the way, it will take a few hours.” Natasha advised. Bruce went to lay down and was asleep in no time.


	2. Chapter 2

Tony had just placed the energy reactor in place and was on his way back to the tower, he didn’t know what it was that had drawn him to New York, besides the fact that this was where he’d held the Expo, he had no particular connections to the city, but it was where he wanted to be. “You’re good on this end, the rest is up to you.” He told Pepper.

“Have you disconnected the transition lines? Are we off the grid?” She checked.

“Yes, Stark Tower is about to become a beacon of self-sustaining clean energy.” Tony replied. He knew Pepper had to dot the i’s and cross the t’s, but he knew what he was doing.

“That’s assuming the arc reactor takes over and actually works?” Pepper sassed.

“I assume. Shall we find out?” Tony asked. Pepper must have switched the power on as the Tower lit up as he approached.

“Did it work? How does it look?” Pepper asked.

“Yeah, it worked. It’s like Christmas, but with more… me.” Tony smirked. Pepper rolled her eyes. He was so full of himself.

“We’ve got to go wider on the public awareness campaign, you need to do some press. I’m in DC tomorrow, working on the zoning for the next three buildings.” Pepper rambled.

“Pepper, you’re killing me. Can’t we just enjoy the fact that it worked?” Tony asked.

“Fine, when you get back we can have a toast.” She grumbled half-heartedly. It didn’t take long for Tony to arrive back at the Tower, allowing his system to remove the Iron Man suit.

“Sir, Agent Coulson of SHIELD is on the line.” JARVIS alerted.

“What does he want?” Tony asked.

“To talk to you, I’m afraid he’s insisting, sir.” JARVIS replied.

“Grow a spine, JARVIS. I don’t want to talk to him.” Tony responded, entering the penthouse. Pepper was pouring herself and Tony a glass of champagne.

“Sir, the telephone. I’m afraid my protocols are being overwritten.” JARVIS warned.

“Stark, we need to talk.” Agent Coulson stated.

“Unless this is about Bruce Banner, you can leave a message.” Tony said.

“This is urgent. And it’s kind of about Banner.” Agent Coulson replied.

“You better come over.” Tony accepted. The elevator opened and Coulson stepped out.

“Mr Stark.” Coulson greeted.

“Phil! Come in.” Pepper smiled.

“Phil? Uh, his first name is Agent.” Tony joked. Pepper laughed.

“Come on in, we’re celebrating.” Pepper offered.

“I can’t stay.” Phil smiled, politely turning them down.

“Are you sure? The more the merrier.” Tony offered.

“You’re going to be very busy, Mr Stark.” Phil stated. “We need you to look this over, as soon as possible.”

“I don’t like being handed things.” Tony stated. Pepper rolled her eyes and handed her glass of champagne to Phil, took the file from him and gave it to Tony as she took his champagne from him.

“I love to be handed things. It’s literally my job.” Pepper said. She still loved being Tony’s PA, even after all of these years. Tony knew how lucky he was that the people in his life hadn’t run away screaming at some point, even though, in the case of Pepper and Happy, they were getting paid large amounts of money.

“Official consulting hours are between eight and five, every other Thursday.” Tony snarked.

“This isn’t a consultation. This is about the Avengers.” Phil stated.

“The Avengers Initiative was scrapped, I thought. And I didn’t even qualify.” Tony commented.

“I didn’t know that.” Pepper added.

“Yeah, apparently I’m volatile, self-obsessed and don’t play well with others.”

“Anyone who’s ever met you could say that after 5 minutes.” Pepper smiled.

“This isn’t about personality profiles anymore. We need you to come in.” Phil stated. Tony moved over to his computer and placed the files into his own database. He then flicked his hands, extending his arms and suddenly everything was floating in a holograph in front of Tony.

“What does Bruce Banner have to do with this?” Tony asked, seeing footage of his soulmate fighting the army at Culver. There was also footage of Captain America, Thor and someone with dark hair, the label said his name was Loki. But Hulk was the one who kept his attention.

“We need an expert on gamma radiation, there’s no one more versed in gamma than him.” Phil replied.

“He’s in India.” 

“He was. Now he’s New York, and will be joining us.” Phil smirked, he knew Tony would go anywhere Bruce Banner was.

“I’m going to take the jet to DC tonight. You’ve got a lot of homework. We can celebrate the tower another time.” Pepper smiled as she left. “I don’t suppose you’re driving by LaGuardia?” She asked, turning to Phil.

“Of course, I can drop you off.” Phil offered as they walked over to the elevator.

“Wait!” Tony called.

“I’ll meet you by the car.” Pepper said, taking the elevator down, leaving Phil to stand by Tony.

“How is he?” Tony asked. Phil knew exactly who he meant.

“He seems fine. I’ve not been told anything on the contrary.” Phil told him.

“Would you tell me, if there was anything wrong?” Tony asked.

“I would have no reason not to. He seems well and you will meet him soon enough.” Phil stated. Tony sighed heavily as Phil left. He couldn’t wait to see Bruce again, it had been far too long. 

He didn’t sleep that night, he stayed up reading through everything that he believed was necessary. He also read through everything SHIELD had on Bruce and his accident. Tony had read some things, but not through official channels so it was nice to have the information presented to him like this. He and Bruce didn’t have the chance to talk about it when they’d seen each other two years ago. Tony couldn’t help but take a brief moment to take himself in hand when reminiscing about the times he’d spent with Bruce. He’d not gotten intimate with anyone since he’d last seen Bruce, couldn’t bring himself to sleep with anyone else. It was over far too quickly, he hoped he would last longer if he got to be intimate with Bruce again any time soon.


	3. Chapter 3

(3 May 2012)

Natasha left his side as soon as they got to where they were going, she was obviously very busy. When he saw her again, she was standing beside Captain America. Bruce was trying his hardest to stay out of everyone’s way but there were people everywhere. “Doctor Banner.” Steve greeted, holding a hand out for Bruce to shake.

“Oh, yeah, hi. They told me you’d be coming.” Bruce commented, accepting Steve’s handshake.

“Word is you can find the cube.”

“Is that the only word on me?” Bruce asked.

“Only word I care about.” Steve smiled. Bruce couldn’t help but smile back, it wasn’t often that people reacted like that. The last group of people who’d reacted like that were Tony, Pepper, Happy and Rhodey. Bruce really missed all of them.

“It must be strange for you, all of this.” Bruce commented, gesturing to everything. Steve looked around and shook his head smiling.

“Actually, this is kind of familiar.” He observed, looking around at the SHIELD agents training. Bruce assumed it reminded him of his days in the army. Surely that was one thing that hadn’t changed much.

“Gentlemen, you might want to step inside a minute. It’s gonna get a little hard to breathe.” Natasha warned with a smirk. Steve looked very confused, probably about as confused as Bruce felt. The Helicarrier started to shake and they saw some people strap down the planes and quinjets in preparation for what was going to happen. 

“Is this a submarine?” Steve asked.

“Really? They want me in a submerged, pressurised metal container?” Bruce asked, he’d never heard of a worse idea. They moved closer to the edge of the Helicarrier in sync as the Helicarrier took flight.

“Oh, no. This is much worse.” Bruce commented with a smile. Steve couldn’t help but laugh at the comment. Natasha led Steve and Bruce through to the bridge.

“Gentlemen.” He greeted. Steve handed Fury 10 dollars, Bruce was sure there was a story behind it but didn’t bother to ask. Fury then walked over to him and offered a hand to shake. “Doctor, thank you for coming.” Bruce reluctantly shook it.

“Thanks for asking nicely. So, uh… how long am I staying?” Bruce asked, he was anxious to get back to Blake and Peter. Maybe he could stay somewhere close by when this was over, I mean, he’s been helping the government.

“Once we get our hands on the Tesseract, you’re in the clear.” Fury assured him, knowing why Bruce wanted to leave as soon as possible.

“Where are you with that?” Bruce asked. The sooner they sorted this, the sooner he could leave. 

“We’re sweeping every wirelessly accessible camera on the planet. Cellphones, laptops, security cameras. If it’s connected to a satellite, it’s eyes and ears for us.” Coulson stated. “Agent Coulson.” He said, holding out a hand for Bruce to shake.

“That’s still not gonna find them in time.” Natasha commented, looking at a photo of Clint Barton. (Bruce only knew his name because of the label next to the photo.)

“You have to narrow the field. How many spectrometers do you have access to?” Bruce asked.

“How many are there?” Fury asked. Bruce rolled his eyes.

“Call every lab you know, tell them to put the spectrometers on the roof and calibrate them for gamma rays. I’ll rough out a tracking algorithm based on cluster recognition. At least we could rule out a few places. Do you have somewhere for me to work?” Bruce asked.

“Agent Romanoff, would you show Doctor Banner to his laboratory, please.” Fury instructed. Natasha gestured for Bruce to follow her and led him down the hall.

“You’re gonna love it, Doc. We got all the toys.” Natasha smirked. Bruce quickly got himself settled, it was a bit difficult to adjust to all of the tech after how long he’d spent in Calcutta. The technology reminded him of being with Tony a few years ago.

* * *

Tony was only getting involved so he could see Bruce again, that’s what he had to keep telling himself. The truth was, he loved being Iron Man and would take every opportunity to show off. “Agent Romanoff, did you miss me?” Tony asked after hijacking the speakers and playing AC/DC. He flew over to assist Captain America and knocked Loki to the ground before standing there and pointing every weapon his suit was capable of at Loki. Natasha rolled her eyes, there was nothing Tony loved more than showing off. “Make your move, Reindeer Games.” Loki put his hands up in surrender as his armour disappeared. “Good move.” Tony added.

“Mr Stark.” Steve acknowledged.

“Captain.” Tony nodded.

As they travelled on the quinjet, Natasha turned to Tony after she’d finished her conversation with Fury. “So, we’ve got Doctor Banner working on finding the cube using gamma rays.” She remarked. Tony mock glared at her.

“Well, Bruce is a nuclear physicist.” He commented.

“Do you know Doctor Banner?” Steve asked. Natasha snorted.

“Yes.” Tony smiled.

“In the biblical sense.” Natasha added. Steve’s eyes widened.

“Did you have to add that?” Tony deadpanned. “Can we just focus on the task at hand?”

“I don’t like it.” Steve stated, happy to change the subject.

“What? Rock of Ages giving up so easily?” Tony checked, hoping Steve wouldn’t say that he didn’t like Tony having intimate relations with another man. He was from the 1940s, after all.

“I don’t remember it ever being that easy. This guy packs a wallop.” Steve stated.

“Still, you are pretty spry for an older fellow. What’s your thing? Pilates?” Tony rambled.

“What?”

“It’s like calisthenics. You might have missed a couple of things, you know, doing time as a Capsicle.” Tony continued. Steve glared at Tony, he wasn’t liking him much at the moment, but he’d been told that Tony was full of himself and that not everyone liked him upon first meeting him.

“Fury didn’t tell me he was calling you in.” Steve said.

“Yeah, there’s a lot of things Fury doesn’t tell you.” Tony smirked.

Of course, that was when Thor made his appearance. At least they finally got Loki back to the Helicarrier.


	4. Chapter 4

Bruce watched as Loki was escorted to his cell. Loki made eye contact and smiled, which slightly unnerved him, maybe it was because of the work he was doing on the scepter. Bruce rubbed his head and looked away. Bruce moved from his lab to the central room of the Helicarrier with everyone else so that he could watch Fury interrogate the guy. They watched as the screen went black, no one seemed to know what to say. Thor seemed as though he was in a trance, it had probably hit him hard, seeing his brother like that. “He really grows on you, doesn’t he?” Bruce smiled.

“Loki’s gonna drag this out, so Thor, what’s his play?” Steve asked, turning to the blonde Asgardian.

“He has an army called the Chitauri. They’re not of Asgard, or any world known. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the Earth. In return, I suspect, for the Tesseract.” Thor said, slowly as though he was coming to.

“An army? From outer space?” Steve asked in disbelief.

“So he’s building another portal, that’s what he needs Erik Selvig for.” Bruce said, mostly to himself.

“Selvig?” Thor asked.

“He’s an astrophysicist.” Bruce explained.

“He’s a friend.” Thor sighed.

“Loki has him under some kind of spell, along with one of ours.” Natasha commented.

“I wanna know why Loki let us take him. He’s not leading an army from here.” Steve stated.

“I don’t think we should be focusing on Loki. That guy’s brain is a bag full of cats, you can smell the crazy on him.” Bruce offered.

“Have care how you speak. Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard, and he’s my brother.” Thor warned.

“He killed eighty people in two days.” Natasha added.

“He’s adopted.” Thor defended.

“I think it’s about the mechanics, I mean, what did they need the iridium for?” Bruce asked, not expecting anyone to give him the answer.

“It’s a stabilising agent.” Tony stated. Bruce smirked and rolled his eyes. “Means the portal won’t collapse on itself like it did at SHIELD. Also, it means the portal can open as wide and stay open as long as Loki wants. The rest of the raw materials, Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily. Only major component he still needs is a power source. A high energy density, something to kick start the cube.” Tony rambled as he wandered around the bridge. Bruce couldn’t help but smile fondly as he watched Tony.

“When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?” Maria asked.

“Last night.” Tony replied. Bruce scoffed, of course he did. “The packet, Selvig’s notes, the Extraction Theory papers. Am I the only one who did the reading?”

“Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?” Steve asked.

“Well, he’s got to heat the cube to a hundred and twenty million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier.” Bruce stated.

“Unless, Selvig has figured out how to stabilise the quantum tunnelling effect.” Tony countered.

“Well, if he could do that he could achieve Heavy Ion Fusion at any reactor on the planet.” Bruce added.

“Finally, someone who speaks English.” Tony smiled, winking at Bruce. The physicist blushed and smiled back as Tony walked over to him and shook his hand, a bit longer than people usually shake hands.

“Is that what just happened?” Steve asked, feeling very confused.

“It’s good to see you again, Doctor Banner. Your work on anti-electron collisions is unparalleled. And I’m a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn it into an enormous green rage monster.” Tony offered.

“Thanks.” Bruce laughed. He’d missed Tony so much.

“Doctor Banner is only here to track the cube. I was hoping you might join him.” Fury said. Bruce and Tony shared a smile.

“Let’s start with that stick of his. It may be magical, but it works an awful lot like a HYDRA weapon.” Steve commented.

“I don’t know about that, but it is powered by the cube. And I’d like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys.” Fury stated.

“Monkeys? I do not understand.” Thor asked.

“I do!” Steve exclaimed. “I understood that reference.” Tony rolled his eyes whilst Steve looked really pleased with himself.

“Shall we play, Doctor?” Tony asked.

“Let’s play.” Bruce accepted, gesturing for Tony to follow him. 

As soon as they had left the bridge and had made it into the hallway, Tony pulled Bruce out of the way into a quieter hallway and pushed him up against the wall so he could claim the physicists lips in a harsh kiss. Bruce groaned and wound his arms around Tony’s neck, holding onto him tightly. “I’ve missed you so much.” Tony whispered into Bruce’s mouth, sealing their mouths together again. Bruce pulled away when the need to breathe became too much. 

“I missed you, too.” Bruce panted. “But we don’t have time for this. We need to get to the lab.” Tony sighed, he knew Bruce was right, that didn’t mean he didn’t want to take Brcue’s clothes off and have him right here in the hallway. Tony pulled away and made to go down the corridor. “Okay, we have time for something.” Bruce caved, taking Tony’s hand and allowing the inventor to lead him to his room. 

“What do we have time for?” Tony asked, taking off his jacket. Bruce pushed Tony so that he was sat on the edge of the bed before getting to his knees. “I’m liking where this is going.” Bruce quickly undid Tony’s belt and took it off, throwing it across the room. He then undid Tony’s trousers and pulled them down, along with his underwear, enough for him to free Tony’s cock. As soon as it was free, Bruce put the tip in his mouth and swirled his tongue around it, Tony unable to keep back the groan at how good it felt to be with Bruce again. It wasn’t long before Bruce had the entirety of Tony’s length in his mouth, taking it all the way to the base, before pulling back so only the tip was in his mouth, he swirled his tongue around the tip, dipping his tongue into the slit before taking it all back in his mouth again. It was driving Tony crazy, he gently moved his hands so they were buried in Bruce’s curls, clutching at them tightly. Bruce was enjoying the feeling of Tony running his hands through his hair, tightening them as he tried to stop himself from thrusting into Bruce’s mouth. “I’m close.” Tony warned. Bruce carried on a bit longer until Tony’s grip tightened again and Bruce pulled away, wrapping his hand around Tony and jerking him off until he came all over Bruce’s face and on his own shirt. Bruce licked his lips and smiled up at Tony who was struggling to catch his breath. “Do you need a hand?” Tony asked.

“We don’t have time. You can repay the favour later.” Bruce smiled.

“Right, I need to change my shirt, and you need to clean your face.” Tony advised. Bruce got up from the floor and Tony pulled him into a kiss, not caring that his cum was over Bruce’s face. Tony quickly changed his shirt whilst Bruce went into the bathroom to clean his face. Once changed, Tony headed into the bathroom to help Bruce clean up before they shared another kiss and headed to the lab.


	5. Chapter 5

Once they made it to the lab, Bruce went back over to the sceptre to keep scanning for radiation using a gamma ray detector, hoping to find something. Tony had taken over several of the monitors to shift through and solve as many algorithms and equations as he could. “The gamma readings are definitely consistent with Selvig’s reports on the Tesseract. But it’s gonna take weeks to process.” Bruce rambled, frowning.

“If we bypass their mainframe and direct a reroute to the Homer cluster, we can clock this around six hundred teraflops.” Tony suggested.

“All I packed was a toothbrush.” Bruce laughed. Tony smiled at him sadly, knowing Bruce didn't have many belongings in the first place. “Honestly, I was hoping that I wouldn’t be here for too long, but I guess I’m going to be here a little while longer.”

“Someone to get back to?” Tony couldn’t help but ask.

“Not quite.” Bruce smirked.

“You know, you should come by Stark Tower sometime. Top ten floors are all R&D, you’d love it, it’s candy land.” Tony offered.

“Thanks, but last time I was in New York, I kind of broke… Harlem.” Bruce frowned, feeling guilty. Tony placed a gentle hand on his shoulder and pressed a kiss to Bruce’s hair.

“Well, I promise a stress free environment.” Tony assured, pulling away. “No tension. No surprises.” He then pokes Bruce with a small electrical prod. Steve walked in, looking furious.

“Ow!” Bruce exclaimed, looking at Tony with nothing but fondness in his eyes.

“Hey!” Steve shouted.

“Nothing?” Tony checked. Bruce smiled, fighting the urge to pull Tony in for a kiss.

“Are you nuts?” Steve asked, looking at Tony.

“Jury’s out.” Tony replied, laughing. Bruce joined in. “You really have got a lid on it, haven’t you? What’s your secret? Mellow jazz? Bongo drums? Huge bag of weed?”

“I think you would have noticed if I had a huge bag of weed when I spent that week with you.” Bruce laughed.

“Is everything a joke to you?” Steve asked.

“Funny things are.” Tony replied.

“Threatening the safety of everyone on this ship isn’t funny.” Steve stated. “No offence, Doctor.”

“No, it’s alright. I understand your hesitance. I wouldn’t have come aboard if I couldn’t handle pointy things. Or Tony.” Bruce joked.

“You’re tiptoeing, love. You need to strut.” Tony remarked.

“And you need to focus on the problem, Mr Stark.”

“You think I’m not? Why did Fury call us? ANd why now? Why not before? What isn’t he telling us? I can’t do the equation unless I have all the variables.” Tony rambled.

“You think Fury’s hiding something?” Steve checked.

“He’s a spy. Captain, he’s the spy. His secrets have secrets.” Tony replied. “It’s bugging him too, isn’t it?” Tony gestured to Bruce.

“Uh… I just want to finish my work here and…” Bruce stumbled.

“Doctor?” Steve asked.

“‘A warm light for all mankind’, Loki’s jab at Fury about the cube.” Bruce began.

“I heard it.” Steve added.

“Well, I think that was meant for you.” Bruce said to Tony, the inventor offered him a blueberry. Bruce hadn’t had blueberries in so long, he eagerly accepted. “Even if Barton didn’t tell Loki about the tower, it was still all over the news.”

“The Stark Tower? That big, ugly… building in New York?” Steve trailed off due to Tony glaring at him.

“It’s powered by an arc reactor, a self-sustaining energy source. That building will run itself for, what, a year?” Bruce asked, looking back to Tony.

“It’s just the prototype. I’m kind of the only name in clean energy right now.That’s what he’s getting at.” Tony bragged, Bruce rolled his eyes.

“So, why didn’t SHIELD bring him in on the Tesseract project? What are they doing in the energy business in the first place?” Bruce asked Steve.

“I should probably look into that once my decryption program finishes breaking into all of SHIELD’s secure files.” Tony rambled.

“I’m sorry, did you just say…?” Steve checked.

“JARVIS has been running it since I hit the bridge. In a few hours, I’ll know every dirty secret SHIELD has ever tried to hide.” Tony claimed. “Blueberry?” He asked, offering one to Steve.

“Yet you’re confused as to why they didn’t want you around?” Steve checked.

“An intelligence organisation that fears intelligence? Historically, not awesome.” Tony commented.

“I think Loki’s trying to wind us up. This is a man who means to start a war, and if we don’t stay focused, he’ll succeed. We have orders, we should follow them.” Steve claimed.

“Following’s not really my style.” Tony joked.

“And you’re all about style, aren’t you?” Steve offered a strained smile. Honestly, Bruce wanted to laugh and agree with that comment but knew not to do that right now. It wouldn’t end well since Tony and Steve were arguing and Steve had clearly just hit a nerve.

“Of the people in this room, which one is a, wearing a spangly outfit and b, not of use?” Tony fired back.

“Steve, tell me none of this smells a little funky to you?” Bruce asked, stepping in to try and avoid further conflict.

“Just find the cube.” Steve grumbled before storming out of the lab. Bruce could see that he was torn, Steve wasn’t daft, he knew Bruce and Tony were making sense but he was an obedient soldier and didn’t want to question his orders, especially since he was in a different time and nothing made sense to him.

“That’s the guy my dad never shut up about? I’m wondering if they should have kept him on ice.” Tony mused.

“The guy’s not wrong about Loki. He does have the jump on us.” Bruce pointed out, accepting a kiss from Tony now that no one else was in the room..

“What he’s got is an ACME dynamite kit. It’s gonna blow up in his face, and I’m gonna be there when it does.” Tony said.

“And I’ll read all about it.” Bruce smiled.

“Uh-huh. Or you’ll be suiting up like the rest of us.” Tony claimed.

“Ah, see, I don’t get a suit of armour. I’m exposed, like a nerve. It’s a nightmare.” Bruce tried, explaining his side of the situation.

“You know, we touched on it briefly last time I saw you, but I have a cluster of shrapnel, trying every second to claw its way into my heart, the arc-reactor stops it. This little circle of light, it’s part of me now, not just armour. It’s a… terrible privilege.” Tony responded.

“But you can control it.” 

“Because I learned how.” Tony countered.

“It’s different.” Bruce protested, moving back to look at the computer screen, Tony didn’t want him to avoid looking at him so he moved the data to the side of the screen so that Bruce was making eye contact again.

“Hey, I said I’ve followed you and I have. I read all about your accident. That much gamma exposure should have killed you.” Tony whispered, taking Bruce’s hands in his.

“So you’re saying that the Hulk… the other guy… saved my life? That’s nice. It’s a nice sentiment. Saved it for what?” Bruce asked.

“Selfishly, I want to say the other guy saved your life for me, but I guess we’ll find out.” Tony smirked.

“You might not like that.”

“You just might.”


	6. Chapter 6

(4th May 2012)

They both resumed their work at separate computers when Bruce’s phone rang. He checked the caller ID. “I really need to get this.” He told Tony.

“Hello, May. Is everything okay?” 

“Yeah, no problems here. Blake and Peter are really enjoying playing together. Peter’s such a great big brother. He’s spent all day with Blake. Peter has been enjoying reading to him. Blake has mostly stayed in bed, but he’s still recovering. They both miss you though.” May explained.

“I miss them, too. Thank you for keeping me updated. Is Blake taking his medicine okay?” Bruce asked.

“Yes, I’ve been bribing him with sweets but he’s taken it without a fuss. And then I’ve had to give Peter something as well.” May laughed.

“That’s good. I can’t wait to come back to them both. I’ll be as quick as I can, I promise.” Bruce stated.

“That’s fine, they wanted to say goodnight before they go to bed. Peter’s going to read a bedtime story after this.” May said. Bruce couldn’t help but beam with pride, Peter had come on so much in the time he hadn’t seen him, then again, he hasn’t seen Peter regularly since Richard and Mary died.

“Papa?” Blake asked.

“Hi, baby. I’m here.” Bruce assured.

“I miss you.” Blake pouted.

“I miss you, too!” Peter shouted. Bruce couldn’t help but laugh, even though he was doing everything he could to avoid crying.

“I miss you both too, very much.” Bruce sniffled. Tony looked over at him, concern written all over his face. Bruce couldn’t blame him, it was a weird conversation to only hear half of.

“Night Papa.” Blake sighed, it sounded like he was yawning. 

“Good night, Blake. Good night, Peter. Sleep well, baby. I’m sending both of you lots of kisses.” Bruce smiled shakily.

“Night, Bruce.”

“Night, May.” Bruce then turned around to look back at Tony, who was very confused. “I promise I’ll explain everything later. Please don’t make me do this now, I promise I will explain everything, we just don’t have the time right now.” Bruce promised.

“But-” Tony started but Fury walked into the room, seeming surprised that they weren’t working on the sceptre.

“What are you doing, Mr Stark?” Fury asked, voice laced with anger.

“Uh… kind of been wondering the same thing about you.” Tony snarked.

“You’re supposed to be locating the Tesseract.”

“We are. The model’s locked and we’re sweeping for the signature now. When we get a hit, we’ll have the location within half a mile.” Bruce explained.

“And you’ll get your cube back, no muss, no fuss.” Tony added, his monitor bleeping with a section of restricted files. “What is Phase 2?” Steve stormed into the room and dropped a gun on the table, everyone turned around to look at him. He looked seriously pissed.

“Phase 2 is SHIELD uses the cube to make weapons,” Steve announced before turning to Tony. “Sorry, the computer was moving a little slow.”

“Rogers, we gathered everything related to the Tesseract. This does not mean that we’re…” Fury tried to explain.

“I’m sorry, Nick.” Tony interrupted, moving the computer screen so that everyone could see it. It clearly showed plans of weapons. “What were you lying?”

“I was wrong, Director. The world hasn’t changed a bit.” Steve remarked. Then the door opened and Natasha walked in with Thor right behind.

“Did you know about this?” Bruce asked, looking at Natasha. She was the one he had confided in about his son. She knew he just wanted to be with his son, keeping him safe.

“You wanna think about removing yourself from this environment, Doctor?” She asked.

“I was in Calcutta. I was pretty well removed.” Bruce fired back.

“Loki’s manipulating you.” She commented.

“And you’ve been doing what exactly?”

“You didn’t come here because I bat my eyelashes at you.” Natasha stated.

“You’re not wrong, considering I’m gay. But I’m not leaving because suddenly you get a little twitchy. I’d like to know why SHIELD is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction.” Bruce replied.

“Because of him.” Fury announced, pointing at Thor.

“Me?” Thor asked, looking stunned and confused.

“Last year, Earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge match that levelled a small town. We learned that not only are we not alone in the universe, but we are hopelessly, hilariously outgunned.” Fury explained.

“My people want nothing but peace with your people.” Thor protested.

“But you’re not the only people out there, are you? And you’re not the only threat. The world is filling up with people who can’t be matched, they can’t be controlled.” Fury continued.

“Like you controlled the cube?” Steve added.

“Your work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it, and his allies. It is a signal to all of the Realms that the Earth is ready for a higher form of war.” Thor commented.

“A higher form?” Steve asked.

“You forced our hand. We had to come up with something.” Fury defended.

“Nuclear deterrent. ‘Cause that always calms everything right down.” Tony rolled his eyes.

“Remind me how you made your fortune again, Stark?” Fury checked.

“I’m sure if he still made weapons, Stark would be neck deep…” Steve tried.

“Wait, wait, hold on! How is this now about me?” Tony asked.

“I’m sorry, isn’t everything?” Steve fired back.

“I thought humans were more evolved than this.” Thor commented.

“Excuse me, did we come to your planet and blow stuff up?” Fury asked.

“Do you always give your champions such mistrust?” Thor queried.

“Are you all really that naive? SHIELD monitors potential threats.” Natasha defended.

“Captain America is on threat watch?” Bruce asked, incredulously.

“We all are.” Natasha replied. Everyone kept arguing, no one seeming to notice that the gem in Loki’s sceptre was glowing brightly. Steve and Tony clashed spectacularly, Bruce was keeping an eye on them and it concerned him.

“You speak of control , yet you court chaos.” Thor said.

“It’s his MO, isn’t it? I mean, what are we, a team? No, no, no. We’re a chemical mixture that makes chaos. We’re… we’re a time bomb.” Bruce observed.

“You need to step away.” Fury told Bruce.

“Why shouldn’t the guy let off a little steam?” Tony joked, wrapping an arm around Steve’s shoulders. Steve pushed him off immediately.

“You know damn well why! Back off!” He exclaimed. Tony turned so he was face to face with Steve.

“Oh, I’m starting to want you to make me.” Tony responded.

“Big man in a suit of armour. Take that off, what are you?” Steve questioned.

“Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist.” Tony listed. Bruce laughed, Natasha scoffed.

“I know guys with none of that worth ten of you. Yeah, I’ve seen the footage. The only thing you really fight for is yourself. You’re not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on the wire and let the other guy crawl over you.” Steve argued.

“I think I would just cut the wire.”

“Always a way out… You know, you may not be a threat, but you better stop pretending to be a hero.” Steve claimed.

“A hero? Like you? You’re a lab rat, everything special about you came out of a bottle!” Tony exclaimed.

“Put on the suit, let’s go a few rounds.” Steve suggested.

“You people are so petty… and tiny.” Thor laughed. Tony rubbed his head, moving away from Steve to stand closer to Bruce.

“Yeah, this is a team…” Bruce trailed off.

“Agent Romanoff, would you escort Doctor Banner back to his…” Fury began but he was cut off.

“Where? You rented my room.” Bruce commented, talking about the glass cage currently containing Loki.

“The cell was just in case…” Fury tried.

“In case you needed to kill me, but you can’t! I know! I tried!” Bruce exclaimed, chest heaving.

“Bruce…” Tony whispered, wrapping his arms around his soulmate and trying not to cry. Tony pulled away slightly to grasp Bruce’s hands, not caring that everyone could see. “Promise me you’ll tell me if you ever feel like that again.” Bruce nodded. Tony lifted the physicist’s hand to his mouth and pressed multiple kisses to them.

“I got low. I didn’t see an end so I put a bullet in my mouth and the other guy spit it out! So I moved on. I focused on helping other people. I was good, until you dragged me back into this freak show and put everyone here at risk!” Bruce yelled, starting to get angry. He turned to Natasha, who looked slightly scared. “You wanna know my secret, Agent Romanoff? You wanna know how I stay calm?” Natasha and Nick Fury both slowly reached for their guns.

“Doctor Banner… put down the scepter.” Steve requested. Bruce looked down, indeed, shocked to see that he was holding the scepter. The computer beeped, breaking everyone out of the trance’s they seemed to be in.

“Got it.” Tony commented, meaning they’d managed to locate the Tesseract.

“Sorry, kids. You don’t get to see my party trick after all.” Bruce remarked.

“Located the Tesseract?” Thor asked.

“I can get there faster.” Tony commented.

“Look, all of us…” Steve began.

“The Tesseract belongs on Asgard, no human is a match for it.” Thor explained. Tony moved to stand beside Bruce, grabbing his hand and pressing a kiss to it before turning to leave the room.

“You’re not going alone!” Steve shouted.

“You gonna stop me?” Tony goaded.

“Put on the suit, let’s find out.” Steve accepted.

“I’m not afraid to hit an old man.” Tony continued.

“Put on the suit.” Steve repeated.

“Oh, my God.” Bruce whispered, noticing something on the screen. Tony moved closer to him to look at the screen when suddenly, a fireball exploded into the room, throwing all the occupants of the lab in different directions. Most of them were thrown against a wall but Bruce and Tony fell down into the lower equipment room.

“Put on the suit!” Steve ordered, looking down at Tony.

“Yep, as soon as I’m free.” He replied, gesturing to his leg that was trapped by debris.

“Somebody’s got to get outside and patch that engine.” Hill concluded. Tony only caught the tail end of what was being said, he was trying to free his leg and focus on Bruce.

“Stark! You copy that?” Fury checked.

“Give me some time and I’ll be on it!” Tony replied. He could see that Bruce was trying his hardest to remain calm, but the look on his face and the fact that his eyes were turning green told a different story. “Bruce, I’m right here.” Tony soothed, finally pulling his leg free and crawling over to where Bruce was. “You have to fight it, love. This is what Loki wants, we can’t give him the satisfaction.” Tony advised. Bruce reached out a hand for Tony to grab which the inventor did, running his thumb over Bruce’s knuckles as another explosion rocked the Helicarrier. “I’m right here, yeah, it’s just you and me.” Tony assured. Bruce’s eyes lost their green edge.

“Can you help me get free?” He asked, breathing heavily. Tony used the hand that wasn’t currently holding Bruce’s to move what was pinning down the physicist. Bruce struggled free and allowed Tony to pull him into a hug. They lay on the floor embracing for a moment.

“Stark, we don’t have time! This engine needs fixing!” Steve exclaimed, looking at the pair. Tony pressed a chaste to Bruce’s lips before getting up and handing Bruce an earpiece so they could still talk to each other once he'd left the room. Bruce stayed curled up in the lower equipment room where no one was going to bother him.

“Find engine three, I’ll meet you there.” Tony instructed. Steve ran off in one direction whilst Tony continued on his way to a tech room where his suit was waiting for him. He quickly got into it and flew out to the engine that needed looking at.

“Stark, I’m here!” Steve informed him.

“Good, let’s see what we’ve got.” Tony mumbled. He flew closer to the damaged engine and JARVIS showed him the layout of the engine and the damage.

“I gotta get this super conducting cooling system back online before I can access the rotors and work on dislodging the debris.” Tony rambled.

“You’ve got your work cut out for you then.” Bruce remarked. Tony smirked, he was glad Bruce wasn’t too shaken over almost turning into the Hulk. Tony began pulling on the stuck rotors before turning back to Steve.

“I need you to get to that engine control panel and tell me which relays are in overload position.” Tony instructed. Tony watched as Steve jumped over to the other side of the broken railing and opened up the control panel. “What’s it look like in there?” Tony asked.

“It seems to run on some form of electricity.” Steve commented.

“Well, you’re not wrong.” Tony agreed. He then got back to work blasting the broken debris off the turbine engine. It was bad, but fixable.

“The relays are intact, what’s our next move?” Steve asked.

“Even if I clear the rotors, this thing won’t re-engage without a jump. I’m gonna have to get in there and push.” Tony commented.

“If the rotor gets up to speed, you’ll get shredded.” Bruce said, sounding alarmed.

“Steve! I need you to stay in the control unit and reverse the polarity long enough to disengage mag…” Tony started.

“Speak English!” Steve interrupted.

“See that red lever? It’ll slow the rotors long enough for me to get out. Stand by it and wait for my word.” Tony instructed. Steve looked over to the other side of where he was. He spotted the lever and jumped so he was stood by it. Tony used his lasers to keep cutting away broken bits of metal, and jumping on them to free the rotor. Tony had no idea what was going on but he suddenly heard gunfire, but knew Steve was more than capable of handling it. Then they started losing altitude, which had Tony slightly more concerned. He started pushing the rotor using his boosters to get the rotor spinning more.

“Stark, we’re losing altitude.” Fury commented.

“Yeah. Noticed.” Tony remarked.

“No shit.” Bruce added. Tony started spinning the rotor faster, knowing they needed to try and keep the Helicarrier in the air. He spun it continuously so that the rotor was propelling as it should, the Helicarrier levelled itself out.

“Cap, I need the lever.” Tony stated.

“I need a minute!” Steve responded.

“Lever. Now!” Tony instructed. Steve hadn’t been able to get to the rotor immediately and when Tony let go, the rotors spun by themselves but Tony got caught, he was thrown through the rotors, the Iron Man suit getting chewed up. When Steve finally managed to reach the lever, a vent opened and Tony fell out, the suit hardly keeping him upright due to the damage it had sustained. He managed to get back to where Steve was before laying down.

Bruce knew there was chaos going on above him but he stayed exactly where he had been when he and Tony fell, hoping to stay out of the way and avoid detection by anyone. So far, no one seemed to have found him which was good. At least he was now aware that Tony could calm the Hulk.


	7. Chapter 7

Steve and Tony both made their way back into the Helicarrier, Bruce met them in the tech room where Tony put his suit and threw his arms around the billionaire, joining their lips for a brief moment but being mindful of the fact that Steve was there. “I’m okay.” Tony assured him.

“Agent Coulson is down.” Fury’s voice came through on everyone’s earpieces.

“Paramedics are on their way to your location.” Someone stated.

“They’re here. They called it.” Fury replied. Tony and Bruce linked hands, interlocking their fingers.

* * *

Fury gathered Tony, Steve and Bruce in the briefing room. No one knew where Thor was. Natasha was with Clint in one of the med bays. Bruce and Tony hadn’t let go of each other since they’d been told Coulson was down. Everyone seemed to be in a daze, Tony, Bruce and Steve seemed to be numb with shock. “These were in Phil Coulson’s jacket. Guess he never did get you to sign them.” Fury commented, throwing the Captain America trading cards in Steve’s general direction. Steve picked one up, it had blood stains on it. Tony and Bruce shared a look, squeezing each other’s hands tightly. “We’re dead in the air up here. Our communications, locations for the cube, Thor. I got nothing for you. Lost my one good eye. Maybe I had that coming.” Fury continued, pausing for a moment. “Yes, we were going to build an arsenal with the Tesseract. I never put all my chips on that though, because I was playing something even riskier. There was an idea, Stark knows this, called The Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, to see if they could become something more. To see if they could work together when we needed them to, to fight the battles that we never could. Phil Coulson died still believing in that idea, heroes.” Tony got up and walked away, he couldn’t bear to hear anymore.

“I’m gonna…” Bruce trailed off, pointing in the direction Tony had gone before following him. Tony was standing in the empty cell container, Bruce knew he’d been friends with Coulson so he wrapped his arms around Tony and allowed the inventor to bury his face in his neck. Neither of them needed to say anything. Steve walked in, looking at them wistfully.

“Was he married?” Steve asked.

“No. There was a, uh… cellist, I think.” Tony replied.

“I’m sorry, he seemed like a good man.” Steve offered.

“He was an idiot.” Tony corrected.

“Why? For believing?”

“For taking on Loki alone.” Bruce replied, Tony wasn’t really in the mood to talk, losing a friend had him really shaken.

“He was doing his job.” Steve pointed out.

“He was out of his league. He should have waited. He should have…” Tony trailed off, accepting the comfort that came from having his arms around Bruce.

“Sometimes there isn’t a way out, Tony.”

“Right. How did that work out for him?” Tony scoffed.

“Is this the first time you’ve lost a soldier?” Steve asked.

“WE ARE NOT SOLDIERS!” Tony exclaimed. “I am not marching to Fury’s fife.”

“Steve didn’t mean it like that, Tony.” Bruce whispered.

“I’m not marching to his fife either, he’s got the same blood on his hands as Loki does. Right now, we’ve got to put that aside and get this done. Now, if Loki needs a power source, if we can put together a list…” Steve started.

“He made it personal.” Tony interrupted, pulling away from Bruce and staring at the blood stained wall.

“That’s not the point.” Steve replied.

“That is the point. That’s Loki’s point. He hit us all right where we live. Why?” Bruce asked.

“To tear us apart.” Steve replied.

“He had to conquer his greed, but he knows he has to take us out to win, right? That’s what he wants. He wants to beat us and he wants to be seen doing it. He wants an audience.” Tony reasoned.

“Right, I caught his act in Stuttgart.” Steve agreed.

“Yeah. That’s just a preview, this is opening night. Loki’s a full tilt diva. He wants flowers, parades, he wants a monument built in the sky with his name plastered… Son of a bitch.” Tony cut himself off.

“Stark Tower.” Bruce and Steve said at the same time, having come to the same conclusion as Tony.

* * *

“Are you sure about this?” Tony asked Bruce. The physicist sat by his side as he repaired his helmet.

“No. I don’t want to get involved, like I said, I don’t get a suit, I’m exposed. It’s a nightmare. I’d rather stay in the quinjet and assess the situation before getting involved.” Bruce explained.

“You’re more than welcome to do that, Doctor Banner. You won’t be forced to fight unless you want to.” Steve offered.

“Thank you.” Bruce smiled.

Once everyone was ready, Steve, Nat, Bruce and Clint headed to a quinjet and entered. “You are not authorised to be here.” The pilot stated.

“Son… just don’t.” Steve instructed, holding a hand up to stop the guy from talking. Tony set off first, leading the way for Clint to follow.

“Is it always this nerve wracking?” Bruce asked. Steve and Natasha nodded. “I think I probably will help, I can’t risk anything happening to Peter and Blake.” Bruce commented, knowing only Natasha was aware of what he was talking about.

“Who are Peter and Blake?” Steve asked, curiously.

“My children.” Bruce replied. Clint and Steve looked at him in surprise. “Peter is 10, nearly 11 and Blake is 2.”

“I didn’t realise you were a father.” Steve commented.

“It’s not something I broadcast. I try to keep them protected because of the other guy. They don’t know about the other guy, I’ve always managed to keep it from them and I would prefer it if it stayed that way. I know it’s unlikely but I can hope. SHIELD don’t know, or they didn’t before I was summoned back into this madness.” Bruce replied.

“What about the other father?” Natasha asked, she’d seen the way Bruce and Tony were with each other, there was clearly something they weren't talking about, at least, not publicly. Besides, she knew Tony Stark and that child looked like him as much as it looked like Bruce Banner.

“He doesn’t know. I plan to tell him at some point but Peter, our eldest was the result of a one night stand. And Blake was the result of some time we spent together just under 3 years ago.” Bruce expanded when everyone looked interested in what he was saying.

“Is it Stark?” Steve asked.

“I’m sorry?” Bruce checked. If he’d just had a drink then he would have just spat it everywhere.

“Is Stark the father of your children?” Steve repeated.

“It’s no one’s business but my own.” Bruce defended.

“That sounds like a yes.” Natasha muttered.

“It’s hardly important right now. Let’s just focus on the whole alien invasion thing. My children’s paternity can wait.” Bruce requested.


End file.
